"What, Ultimately, For"? The Elusive Goal of Cultural Criticism.

An essay is presented that discusses cultural criticism in relation to the critics John Ruskin and Matthew Arnold. Topics include Ruskin's book "Unto This Last," the notion of public debate, and the 1959 lecture "The Two Cultures and the Scientific Revolution" by author and chemist Charles Percy Snow. Also addressed are literary critic Frank Raymond Leavis's 1962 critique of Snow's speech, the thought of literary critic Lionel Trilling, and the book "The Way We Argue Now," by Amanda Anderson.